


Asked and Answered

by clotpolesonly



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Laura Hale, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Allison Argent/Scott McCall - Freeform, Gen, Laura Hale Lives, Scott McCall (Teen Wolf) Gets Bitten, but he's asking for it now, he wasn't bitten before
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:08:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26562652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clotpolesonly/pseuds/clotpolesonly
Summary: “I want this.” Scott tried to inject every ounce of sincerity he could into it. “You saved my life, Laura. If I could have the power to save even one other person—”“So that’s why you want it?” Derek cut in. “You want power?”“What Iwant,”Scott said, “is to be able to run a mile without my own lungs trying to kill me. I want to be able to protect myself from monsters like Peter. And I want to be able to protect others from them too.”
Relationships: Laura Hale & Scott McCall
Comments: 15
Kudos: 54
Collections: Laura Hale Appreciation Week 2020





	Asked and Answered

**Author's Note:**

> a very last minute, post-midnight, un-beta-ed entry for LHAW's first day! i feel like that's practically tradition at this point haha

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Scott resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Stiles, beside him, didn’t bother restraining himself.

“Yes,” Scott said patiently. “I want to do this.”

Laura bit her lip, toe tapping against the floor. Derek had his arms crossed and his attention focused elsewhere, apparently still peeved that his sister was even _considering_ this. He had tried just about everything to get them to go home and stay out of it, but that just wasn’t how they worked. If there was a mystery to be solved, Stiles would be there with bells on, and no amount of growling and threatening from Derek was going to stop him.

As for Scott, well…

“I _want_ this.” Scott tried to inject every ounce of sincerity he could into it. “You saved my life, Laura. If I could have the power to save even one other person—”

“So that’s why you want it?” Derek cut in. “You want power?”

Stiles surged forward, fully intending to say something that was going to get his ass kicked. Scott grabbed his arm and yanked him back before the words could escape. At Scott’s raised eyebrow, Stiles huffed and fell back, meeting Derek’s glare with dagger-eyes of his own. With bloodshed no longer imminent, Scott turned his attention back to Laura.

“What I want,” he said, “is to be able to run a mile without my own lungs trying to kill me. I want to be able to protect myself from monsters like Peter. And I want to be able to protect others from them too.”

“Others like Allison?” Laura asked. Beside her, Derek snarled like the mere idea of Allison personally offended him, but Laura’s face was impassive, her tone neutral.

“Like Allison,” Scott said. “Like Stiles. Like my mom, and Stiles’ dad, and Dr. Deaton. Like you guys.”

Surprise broke through Laura’s poker face. “Like us?”

Scott shrugged, shifting on his feet. “Well, yeah. You’ve been shot at an awful lot in the last few weeks.”

“We’ve noticed,” Derek said flatly.

Scott ignored his tone, and Stiles bristling at it. “It just seems like you’ve got a lot of enemies. Like you could use all the help you can get.”

Laura surveyed him again, more carefully this time. “You know that if you took the bite, our enemies would become your enemies. All of those hunters? They’d be gunning for you too. Literally.”

It wasn’t a comfortable thought. Even without being a direct player, Scott had already seen more blood in the last week than he had in months of working at the vet clinic. Watching Laura dig the bullet out of Derek’s black-veined arm and force burning ash into the wound while he screamed ranked very highly on Scott’s list of most traumatic memories.

But even worse was the gnawing fear in his stomach of what would happen if Peter came after him again. Or if he went after Stiles next, or Allison. Sprinting through the woods with his lungs spasming and the thump of clawed feet at his back, racing death on _two_ fronts and helpless against both of them, was so much worse than the threat of a few measly bullets that he would be better equipped to dodge or heal from anyway.

Scott looked Laura in the eye and said, “I know the risks. And I’m willing to take them.”

“Even if they lose you your girlfriend?” Derek asked, mouth twisting around the words like they were distasteful. “She’s an Argent, Scott. She would never be okay with—”

“You don’t know that,” Scott said through gritted teeth. “You don’t know _her._ ”

“I know what happens a dumb kid thinks he knows something about ‘love’ and—”

Laura said Derek’s name. It was quiet, but firm, and enough to pull him up short mid-word. They shared a moment of eye contact, unspoken words being exchanged in a way that Scott was very familiar with; he and Stiles could have whole conversations without making a single noise. In the end, Derek shook his head sharply and walked away, letting the charred remainder of the Hale house’s front door slam behind him on the way out.

Laura let him go. “Don’t let him get to you,” she said. “He means well, I promise.”

“Funny way of showing it,” Stiles grumbled. “Asshole.”

A sharp growl reminded him that it was Laura’s little brother he was insulting. He had the good sense to look chastened, at least, though he didn’t take it back.

“Look,” Scott said, drawing her attention back to him. “I get why he’s worried. But I honestly don’t think Allison’s a threat. She’s not like her family, and not just because she doesn’t even _know_ what it is they’re doing. You’ve been watching her, haven’t you? What do you think?”

Laura let out a long, slow breath. “I think...that she’s a sweet, normal-ish girl who has no idea what she’s caught up in. And I don’t think any of us knows how she’ll react to finding out. Not even her. Are you sure you want to risk putting yourself in her crosshairs if she goes the way of her aunt?”

“Don’t you think she might react more favorably if she finds out from _us_ instead of from Kate?”

Laura cocked her head to the side in a gesture that Scott couldn’t help but recognize as very canine. He was pretty sure that Derek would teleport back into the house just to rip his head off if he said as much out loud, though, so he kept the observation to himself.

“You may have a point,” the alpha allowed. “And you sound like you’ve really thought this decision through.”

A tentative, hopeful smile tugged at Scott’s lips. “I have. I promise.”

Sharp blue eyes cut over to Stiles. “And what about you?”

Stiles looked over his shoulder. When there was no one back there that Laura could’ve been addressing instead, he said, “Who, me? Oh, hell no. This is all Scott. I am very much not interested in the whole chompy-bitey thing.” He mimed sinking his teeth into something. “I’m just here for moral support.”

Scott bumped their shoulders together, immensely grateful that Stiles was there, even if he _did_ make a habit of antagonizing the already antagonistic brother of the alpha. Stiles bumped him back, grinning.

“Good,” Laura said, and she even sounded like she meant it, despite the very judgmental look on her face. “He’ll need it. The first month or two after the bite are... _rough,_ to say the least.”

Stiles’ eyes widened with alarm. “How rough are we talking, exactly?”

Laura just smiled at him. Scott was a little surprised there were no actual fangs involved, but that wasn’t his biggest concern.

“Wait,” he said. “Does that mean you’ll do it? You’ll give me the bite?”

“You’re a good candidate for it,” Laura told him. “You’re young and strong. You’ll benefit more than most from it. You’re cognizant of the risks and have had time to process them and make your decision with a clear head. And you sound like you’re doing it for the right reasons.”

“So that’s a _yes?_ ” Stiles pressed.

“It’s a yes.”

Stiles let out a whoop of excitement. His air-punch almost knocked Scott upside the head, but Scott had years of practice with dodging his best friend’s wild gesticulations. He fought back a cheer of his own, a thrill running through him that was equal parts excitement and trepidation.

“So, like...now?” he asked.

“As good a time as any.” Laura tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, looking a little nervous for the first time since Scott had met her. “I should probably warn you that I haven’t actually done this before. Not that it’s hard or anything!” she hastened to say. “It’s kind of hard to fuck up a bite. I just mean that… Well, it’s a big first for me. For any alpha.”

Scott offered her his warmest smile. “I’m sure you’ll do great. And, hey, it’ll be my first time getting bitten. So we can be bite-virgins together!”

The groan Stiles let out was long and loud, but it wasn’t enough to cover up the much more gratifying sound that was Laura’s snort of laughter.

“That was _terrible,_ ” she said. “I am already rethinking this decision.”

“No, you’re not.”

Laura’s smile was warm too, and a little mischievous. “No. I’m not.”

**Author's Note:**

> [rebloggable on tumblr!](https://clotpolesonly.tumblr.com/post/629789532733243392/asked-and-answered)


End file.
